Right of foreigners to vote in the United States

The right of foreigners to vote has been a contentious issue in the United States for years. A foreigner, in this context, is a person who is not citizen of the United States. Over 40 states or territories, including colonies before the Declaration of Independence, have at some time admitted aliens voting rights for some or all elections Citation
url=http://www.sou.edu/polisci/pavlich/Raskin_Aliens.htm
title=Legal aliens, local citizens: The historical, constitutional and theoretical meanings of Alien suffrage
first=Jamin B.
last=Raskin
author-link=Jamie Raskin
publisher=Southern Oregon University
journal=University of Pennsylvania Law Review
volume=141
issue=4
month=April
year=1993
pages=1391-1470
accessdate=2007-12-03] Citation
title=American Suffrage. From property to democracy
first=Chilton
last=Williamson
author-link=Chilton Williamson
publisher=Princeton University Press
year=1960] Citation
title=Democracy For All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights In The United States
first=Ronald
last=Hayduk
author=Ronald Hayduk
publisher=Routledge
year=2006
ISBN=9780415950732] [see also Droit de vote des étrangers aux États-Unis] . In 1874, the Supreme Court in Minor v. Happersett noted that "citizenship has not in all cases been made a condition precedent to the enjoyment of the right of suffrage. Thus, in Missouri, persons of foreign birth, who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, may under certain circumstances vote." [Citation
url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=88&invol=162
title=Minor v. Happersett 88 U.S. 162 (1874)
author=U.S. Supreme Court
accessdate=2007-12-08] Some voting rights at a local level have been granted to non-citizens by some state governments from 1968 onwards cite paper
author =Earnest, David C.
title =Voting Rights for Resident Aliens: A Comparison of 25 Democracies
version =
publisher =Old Dominion University
date =November 7, 2003
url =http://www.odu.edu/~dearnest/pdfs/earnest_isane_2003.pdf
format =pdf
accessdate = ] .

Historical Data

No citizenship requirement for suffrage

Connecticut

1776-1819

Delaware

1776-1831

Illinois

*Article 27 of the : "In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of 21 years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an elector"
*1848: end of alien suffrage by constitutional amendment, but noncitizens who were present in 1848 were grandfathered .

Kentucky

1789-1799

Maryland

1776-1851

Massachusetts

*1780 Massachusetts Constitution [the entry on Wikisource is not the original 1780 text but the present-day amended text; for the original 1780 constitution, see: Citation
url=http://www.teachingamericanhistory.com/library/index.asp?document=266
title=A constitution or frame of government, Agreed upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts Bay, March 2, 1780
accessdate=2007-12-12
publisher=teachingamericanhistory.org - Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University] :
**Article IV (Chapter I., Section III. House of Representatives) : "Every male person, being twenty-one years of age, and resident in any particular town in this Commonwealth for the space of one year next preceding, having a freehold estate within the same town, of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate of the value of sixty pounds, shall have a right to vote in the choice of a Representative or Representatives for the said town."
**Article II (Chapter I, Section II. Senate): "every male inhabitant of twenty-one years of age and upwards, having a freehold estate within the Commonwealth, of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate of the value of sixty pounds, shall have a right to give in his vote for the Senators for the district of which he is an inhabitant. And to remove all doubts concerning the meaning of the word "inhabitant" in this constitution, every person shall be considered as an inhabitant, for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office, or place within this State, in that town, district, or plantation, where he dwelleth, or hath his home."

New Hampshire

1792-1814

New Jersey

1776-1820

New York

1776-1804

North Carolina

1704-1856

Northwest Territory

1787 Northwest Ordinance (valid until 1803) "Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same; Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative." [Citation
url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=174
title=An ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, July 13, 1787
accessdate=2007-12-04
publisher=The Library of Congress]

Ohio

*1802 Constitution: "In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the State one year next preceding the election, and who have paid or are charged with a State or county tax, shall enjoy the right of an elector" [article IV, section 1 of the ]
*1851: end of aliens voting rights

Pennsylvania

*1776 Constitution: "all free men having a sufficient evident common interest with, and attachment to the community, have a right to elect officers, or to be elected into office" [Citation
url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa08.htm
title=Constitution of Pennsylvania - September 28, 1776
accessdate=2007-12-11
publisher=The Avalon Project at Yale Law School]
*1790 Constitution (Art. III section 1.): "In elections by the citizens, every freeman of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the State two years next before the election, and within that time paid a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least six months before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elector: Provided, That the sons of persons qualified asaforesaid, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two years, shall be entitled to vote, although they shall not have paid taxes." [Citation
url=http://www.mariettapa.com/pa_pacon_1790.html
title=Constitution of Pennsylvania 1790
accessdate=2007-12-11] ]
*1838 Constitution (Art. III, section 1.): "In elections by the citizens, every white freeman of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in this State one year, and in the election-district where he offers to vote ten days immediately preceding such election, and within two years paid a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least ten days before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elector. (...)" [Citation
url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/kjohnso1/pennsylvaniaconstitution.htm
title=The Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1838
accessdate=2007-12-11] ]
*1874 Constitution (Article VIII, section 1.): "Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections: First--He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month". (...)" [Citation
url=http://www.paconstitution.duq.edu/PAC_C_1874.html
title=The Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1874
accessdate=2007-12-11] ]

Rhode Island

1762-1842

South Carolina

1790- ?

Tennessee

1796-1834

Vermont

*1776 and 1786 Constitutions: "all freemen. having a sufficient, evident, common interest with, and attachment to the community, have a right to elect officers, or be elected into office." [Citation
url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/vt01.htm
title=Constitution of Vermont - July 8, 1777
accessdate=2007-12-11
publisher=The Avalon Project at Yale Law School] [Citation
url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/vt02.htm
title=Constitution of Vermont - July 4, 1786
accessdate=2007-12-11
publisher=The Avalon Project at Yale Law School]
*1793 Constitution (Section 21st): "Every man of the full age of twenty one years, having resided in this State for the space of one whole year next before the election of Representatives, and is of a quiet and peaceable behaviour, and will take the following oath or affirmation, shall be entitled to all the privileges of a freeman of this State. "You solemnly swear (or affirm) that whenever you give your vote or suffrage, touching any matter that concerns the State of Vermont, you will do it so as in your conscience you shall judge will most conduce to the best good of the same, as established by the constitution, without fear or favour of any man." " [Citation
url=http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/constitut/con93.htm
title=Constitution of Vermont - July 9, 1793
accessdate=2007-12-11
publisher=Vermont State Archives]
*1828: end of alien suffrage for federal elections; but still up to 1977 for local elections [Citation
url=http://www.immigrantvoting.org/statescurrent/vermont.html
title=Immigrant voting rights in Vermont
accessdate=2007-12-07
publisher=Immigrant Voting Project] .

Virginia

*1776 Virginia Bill of Rights: "all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage" [Citation
url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va05.htm
title=Virginia Bill of Rights, June 12, 1776
accessdate=2007-12-09
publisher=The Avalon Project at Yale Law School]
*1850: end of aliens voting rights

uffrage for those who intend to become citizens

Alabama

*1868: "Every male person, born in the United States, and every male person who has been naturalized, or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upward, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election, and three months in the county in which he offers to vote, except as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed an elector" [Citation
url=http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/history/constitutions/1868/1868_7.html
title=1868 Constitution of Alabama, Article VII, Section 2
accessdate=2007-12-04]
*1901: "Every male citizen of this state who is a citizen of the United States, and every male resident of foreign birth, who, before the ratification of this Constitution, shall have legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upwards, not laboring under any of the disabilities named in this article, and possessing the qualifications required by it, shall be an elector, and shall be entitled to vote at any election by the people; provided, that all foreigners who have legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, shall, if they fail to become citizens thereof at the time they are entitled to become such, cease to have the right to vote until they become such citizens" [Citation
url=http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245717.htm
title=Constitution of Alabama, 1901, Section 177
accessdate=2007-12-12]

Arkansas

*1874: "Every male citizen of the United States, or male person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the same, of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the State twelve months, and in the county six months, and in the voting precinct or ward one month, next preceding any election, where he may propose to vote, shall be entitled to vote at all elections by the people." [Citation
url=http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/ar-constitution/arcart3/arcart3-1.htm
title=Constitution of Arkansas, 1874, Article 3 § 1
accessdate=2007-12-10]
*1926: end of aliens voting rights

Colorado

1876-1902

Florida

*1868: "Every male person of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, of whatever race, color, nationality, or previous condition, who shall, at the time of offering to vote, be a citizen of the United States, or who shall have declared his intention to become such in conformity to the laws of the United States, and who shall have resided and had his habitation, domicil, home, and place of permanent abode in Florida for one year, and in the county for six months, next preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote, shall in such county be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under this Constitution." [Citation
url=http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/Constitution/1868_index.cfm
title=Constitution of the State of Florida Adopted February 25, 1868, Article XIV. Section 1
accessdate=2007-12-09]
*1894: end of aliens voting rights

=Georgia=

*1868 "Every male person born in the United States and every male person who has been naturalized, or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upward, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election, and shall have resided thirty days in the county in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid all taxes which may have been required of him, and which he may have had an opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, for the year next preceding the election (except as hereinafter provided), shall be deemed an elector" [Citation
url=http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/con1868.htm
title=Georgia Constitution of 1868, Article II, Section 2
accessdate=2007-12-09]
*1877: end of aliens voting rights

Idaho

1863-1890

Indiana

*1851: "In all elections, not otherwise provided for by this Constitution, every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election; and every white male, of foreign birth, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the United States one year, and shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election, and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization; shall be entitled to vote, in the township or precinct where he may reside."; "No Negro or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage" [Citation
url=http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/resources/constarticle2.html
title=Indiana's Constitution of 1851 Article 2, sections 2 and 5
accessdate=2007-12-10]
*1921: end of aliens voting rights

Kansas

*1859: "Every white male person, of twenty-one years and upward, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in Kansas six months next preceding any election, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote at least thirty days next preceding such election, shall be deemed a qualified elector: First, Citizens of the United States. Second, Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization." [Citation
url=http://www.kshs.org/research/collections/documents/online/wyandotteconstitution.htm#article5
title= Constitution of Kansas, 1859 - Article V, section 1.
accessdate=2007-12-10]
*1918: end of aliens voting rights

Louisiana

1879-?

Michigan

*1850: "In all elections, every male inhabitant of this State, being a citizen of the United States, every male inhabitant residing in this State on the twenty-fourth day of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-five, every male inhabitant residing in this State on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and fifty, every male inhabitant of foreign birth who, having resided in the State two years and six months prior to the eighth day of November, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and having declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States two years and six months prior to said last named day, and every civilized male inhabitant of Indian descent, a native of the United States and not a member of any tribe, shall be an elector and entitled to vote; but no one shall be an elector or entitled to vote at any election unless he shall be above the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in this State six month, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote, twenty days next preceding such election" [Citation
url=http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/historical/miconstitution1850.htm
title= Constitution of Michigan, 1850 - Article 7, section 1.
accessdate=2007-12-09]
*1894: end of aliens voting rights

Minnesota

*1849-1898
*1857-1898 [ [http://www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp?page=535 Betty Kane, Amending our state constitution: Continuity Through Ordered Change, 1981] ]

Mississippi

*never
*up to 1924

Missouri

1865-1921

Montana

1864-1889

Nebraska

1854-1918

Nevada

1848-1864

North Dakota

1889-1889/1909

Oklahoma

1850-1907

Oregon

1848-1914

South Dakota

1850-1918

Texas

*1876: "Every male person subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, and who shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district or county in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified elector; and every male person of foreign birth, subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications, who, at any time before an election, shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, in accordance with the federal naturalization laws, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding such election, and the last six months in the county in which he offers to vote, shall also be deemed a qualified elector" [Citation
url=http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/IART06.html
title=Constitution of the State of Texas (1876), Article VI, section 2.
accessdate=2007-12-09]
*1921 [Citation
url=http://suffrage-universel.be/us/usvoaltx.htm
title=Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in Texas
accessdate=2007-12-09]

Washington

(1853-1889)

Wisconsin

*1848: "Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, or upwards, of the following classes, who shall have resided in this State for one year next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election. 1st. White citizens of the United States 2d. White persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization" (...)"; "No person shall be eligible to the legislature, who shall not not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district he may be chosen to represent." [Citation
url=http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=25969&CISOSHOW=25950
title=Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, Adopted in Convention, at Madison, on the first day of February, in the year Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. Article III, section 1. (Suffrage) and Article IV, section 6. (Legislative)
accessdate=2007-12-09]
*1908

Wyoming

(1850-1889)

Current Status

Jamie Raskin, an American law professor and politician, has argued that the blanket exclusion of noncitizens from the ballot is neither constitutionally required nor historically normal . A Manhattan Community College political science professor and rights activist, Ron Hayduk, wrote in 2006 a book entitled "Democracy For All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights In The United States", presenting additional elements of the historical and present reality of noncitizens voting rights in the United States .

California

A proposition which would have allowed all parents of children in the San Francisco school system to vote in school board elections regardless of their immigration or citizenship status was rejected in a November 2004 ballot [ [http://www.immigrantvoting.org/statescurrent/california.html Immigrant Voting Rights in California] ] .

Connecticut

An "act concerning voting by resident alien property owners", "to allow alien property owners to vote at town meetings and referenda", was submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly in 2003 [ [http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=340&which_year=2003&SUBMIT1.x=9&SUBMIT1.y=15&SUBMIT1=Normal An act concerning voting by resident alien property owners] ] .

District of Columbia

An "Equitable Voting Rights Amendment Act" was proposed, and rejected in commission, in 2004 [ [http://www.immigrantvoting.org/statescurrent/DC.html Immigrant voting rights in Washington, D.C.] ]

Maryland

Maryland ended noncitizen voting rights for state and federal elections in 1851, but its constitution recognizes the autonomy of local municipalities and localities on the subject. As of February, 2008, one city, three towns, and three villages in Montgomery County have introduced bills to restore the right to vote to foreigners within their jurisdictions. Barnesville (since 1918), Martin's Additions and Somerset (since 1976), Takoma Park (since 1991) and Garrett Park (since 1999), Chevy Chase Section 3 and Chevy Chase Section 5 cite paper
author =Earnest, David C.
title =Noncitizen Voting Rights: A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm
version =
publisher =Old Dominion University
date =August 29, 2003
url =http://www.odu.edu/~dearnest/pdfs/earnest_apsa_2003.pdf
format =pdf
accessdate = ] .

Massachusetts

Three municipal assemblies in the state of Massachusetts have introduced bills to confer foreigners the right to vote. The municipal assembly in the city of Newton introduced a bill to this effect in 2004, while Amherst and Cambridge did so in 1998. [cite web
url=http://suffrage-universel.be/us/usvoalmanewton.htm
title=Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in Massachusetts - the debate in the City of Newton (excerpts from meetings of the board of aldermen and the programs and services committee, 2004-2007
accessdate=2007-12-12] However, as of February, 2008, the proposals have not yet been approved by the state's assembly.

Minnesota

A "bill for an act relating to elections; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article VII, section 1; authorizing local units of government to permit permanent resident noncitizens to vote in local elections" was submitted on February 7, 2005 at the Minnesota House of Representatives [ [https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0818.0&session=ls84 H.F. No. 818, as introduced - 84th Legislative Session (2005-2006)] ] .

New York

Bills have been submitted at the New York City Council and at the New York State Assembly in 2003, 2005 and 2006 [ [http://www.immigrantvoting.org/statescurrent/newyork.html Immigrant voting rights in New York City and State] ] .

Texas

A bill was submitted by Rep. Roberto Alonso in 1995 "proposing a constitutional amendment providing by local option for a lawfully admitted resident alien to vote in an election held by a political subdivision." [ [http://suffrage-universel.be/us/usvoaltx.htm#recent Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in Texas] ] .

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